Narrative:

My flight school planned a day of emergency upset training; which involves aerobatic flight. I located an area that met the requirements of far 90.303. I sought to file a NOTAM for intensive flight training with FSS. The specialist refused; so I talked to his supervisor who agreed to file a NOTAM that reads as follows: stw aerobatic area 2000-7000 1.5 nmr STW035005.5 avoidance adzd wef (date and time). He called back later; and said that he would not file an aerobatic NOTAM without a waiver. I told him that I had already talked to the FSDO who told me that if the requirements of far 91.303 were met; no waiver was required or would be issued. I believe that there is a systemic problem here. Logic says that airspace is safer if there is notification. The FSDO and FSS both points to the rules and say; 'our rulebook doesn't allow it.' the FSDO showed no interest because there was no waiver to be issued. FSS was restricted by the rules in their book from issuing a NOTAM without waiver. I called the ny TRACON airspace procedures office to make an informal notification. She told me she would notify the controllers working that sector. Only aircraft under positive control would receive separation services. We saw no turbine aircraft during the day. We did see other GA aircraft. In the end; we did our training in an area that; while not a victor airway or jet airway; is used for radar vectoring. For separation we used 'see and avoid'; and tis (mode south). This pilot sees no reason for not using the NOTAM system to notify the pilots and controllers. The whole point of a NOTAM is to notify pilots of unusual conditions worthy of note. To restrict publication or unusual conditions simply because they are new or unanticipated in a triumph of rules over logic and safety.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Instructor reports inability to have NOTAM published by FSS for aerobatic training north of the STW VOR. FSDO and FSS rules and procedures conflict and the reporter used see and avoid to accomplish the training.

Narrative: My flight school planned a day of emergency upset training; which involves aerobatic flight. I located an area that met the requirements of FAR 90.303. I sought to file a NOTAM for intensive flight training with FSS. The specialist refused; so I talked to his Supervisor who agreed to file a NOTAM that reads as follows: STW AEROBATIC AREA 2000-7000 1.5 NMR STW035005.5 AVOIDANCE ADZD WEF (date and time). He called back later; and said that he would not file an aerobatic NOTAM without a waiver. I told him that I had already talked to the FSDO who told me that if the requirements of FAR 91.303 were met; no waiver was required or would be issued. I believe that there is a systemic problem here. Logic says that airspace is safer if there is notification. The FSDO and FSS both points to the rules and say; 'our rulebook doesn't allow it.' The FSDO showed no interest because there was no waiver to be issued. FSS was restricted by the rules in their book from issuing a NOTAM without waiver. I called the NY TRACON Airspace Procedures Office to make an informal notification. She told me she would notify the controllers working that sector. Only aircraft under positive control would receive separation services. We saw no turbine aircraft during the day. We did see other GA aircraft. In the end; we did our training in an area that; while not a Victor Airway or Jet Airway; is used for radar vectoring. For separation we used 'see and avoid'; and TIS (Mode S). This pilot sees no reason for not using the NOTAM system to notify the pilots and controllers. The whole point of a NOTAM is to notify pilots of unusual conditions worthy of note. To restrict publication or unusual conditions simply because they are new or unanticipated in a triumph of rules over logic and safety.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.